NBSR 9801 East on Saturday

I took my two youngest kids to McAdam on Saturday to see the NB Southern eastbound freight. We left Fredericton at 13:00 and entered McAdam town limits at 14:00 precisely. I had heard that the eastbound had left Brownville Junction at around 10:00 but it was nowhere to be seen when I arrived. I got some ice cream and headed down to the Maine border to wait. After enjoying our ice cream and waiting in the cold, we decided to head back to McAdam.

It wasn't until just after 15:00 that I heard someone calling the RTC on the scanner. We headed back toward the border, and saw the eastbound about halfway between McAdam and the border. A quick three-point turn on the road led us back to the yard entrance, where I taped them at 15:12.


NBSR 9801 East had 9801, 2610, 2319 and 2318 with 58 cars: 1 bulkhead flat, 5 boxcars, 1 empty centerbeam flat, 4 boxcars, 1 mty c/b flat, 1 boxcar, 4 Procor tank cars, 4 boxcars, 3 mty c/b flats, 8 autoracks, 10 tank cars, and 16 loaded woodchip cars.

We watched them do their drop in the yard and make a small pickup.


As they were preparing to leave, I decided to try a different photo angle. I went up to the church near the highway and shot this from the back parking lot. I like the angle but there's a lot of clutter in the photo.


They left at 15:47 but I was already on my way. I wanted to catch them at Harvey Lake so I needed to be away before them. As it turns out, I had lots of time. It wasn't until 16:25 that they showed up.



They had picked up 3 covered hoppers, and dropped the first 10 cars from the head end, leaving 51 cars on the train.


Once the last woodchip car rounded the bend, that was it.

Video to come soon.

NB Southern eastbound today

I just heard it hasn't left Brownville Junction yet (it's 8:49 AM EDT) but it should be leaving shortly. That will put it in McAdam around 14:00 Atlantic, after a small pickup at Mattawamkeag. I hope to get to McAdam and take some shots. :)

NBSR 2610 and 2612 update

NBSR 2612 was primed earlier this week and sprayed green today. No doubt the numbers, decals and so forth are next, and maybe we'll see it in its new colours next week.

2610 had a little work done in the Dever Road shop this week.

NBSR 9803 got its hood back on Tuesday and now it's time for the detail work of making all the hookups. Hopefully we'll see it on the road soon.

NBSR 9803 and 9802 rolling through rainy Westfield on April 28, 2005.

EDIT: Removed my arrogant assumption that I knew better than what someone else saw.

The Acadian Railway Company

I've put a few pages up on my site about the planned Acadian Railway Company, the company to be formed to build a shortline railway in northeastern New Brunswick. The pages feature an interview with the promoter, Peter Swire, as well as a map showing a tentative route.

Another Halifax area Photographer?

Steve Arnot has a number of photos from the Halifax area on Railpictures.net. There are some striking photos in the collection. He clearly has a good telephoto lens! :)

Another news article on the Acadian peninsula railway

From November 2006, here is the French version and a translated English version.

Acadian Peninsula Railway

I have received news that a new shortline railway is being proposed to serve the Acadian Peninsula.

The railway would provide freight service to the peninsula, presumably including Caraquet, Tracadie and possibly Shippagan. I am assuming it would use the former CN railbed from Gloucester Junction through East Bathurst.

This was reported in L'Acadie Nouvelle on December 9, 2006 and also on March 1, 2007.

I wish I could go into more specifics but I don't have many details and those I have are confidential.

I hope to have more details in the next few days, including an interview with one of the organizers.

Shortline Railway Act Revisions

As I mentioned, the New Brunswick Shortline Railways Act is being revised to allow some unspecified business improvements for shortlines, as well as permit the construction of new rail lines.

You can read what is being proposed as well as the status of bill 36. It had third reading on March 22 so it should receive royal assent soon.

The existing bill as written does not permit the creation of new short lines. The new wording defines a shortline railway as "a railway, within the legislative jurisdiction of the Province, that a railway company operates or intends to operate for the carriage of passengers or freight, and includes all railway lines that a railway company owns or proposes or is authorized to construct".

The other change allows the Minister of Transportation to override regulations, provided it is in the public interest (as determined by the Minister) and "is not likely to threaten safety". I suspect there are some onerous regulations that the province's shortlines would like to be exempted from.

In my next post, I'll talk about the new shortline railway that is being proposed to serve the Acadian Peninsula.

Stay Tuned

There's some very interesting news coming down the pipe. Some people may remember that the province's recent budget contained a mention of revising the Short Line Act to allow the creation of new short line railways. There's a reason why the Act is going to be revised...

CFMG Train 402 in a Snowstorm

Here's a YouTube video of CFMG 402 plowing some snow by the Rimouski station in Quebec.



I hope the camera and photographer were OK! :)

New video of NBSR 2610 online

I put a video of NBSR 2610 on the eastbound online at the usual place.

March 14 sightings

2000
Miramichi, noon: I saw NBEC 1814 and 1864 coupled to a long train, and NBEC 6904 and 1818 idling by themselves.

2004
Welsford, 6 PM: I caught the eastbound NB Southern TOFC (trailer on flat car) train with NBSR 9801 and 9802 leading 19 flatcars.

2005
Wendell Lemon reported seeing CN potash train 588 heading south by Fundy with 89 loads for Cassidy Lake. Power was CN 5700, GCFX 6046, IC 6259, CN 5795 and CN 5657. One orange CN scale car near the end.

Bob Boudreau reported seeing ONR 2105 in Saint John on the same day.

Incidentally, today is my sister's birthday. Happy birthday, Angela!

David Othen videos

David Othen has been uploading train videos to YouTube in the past few weeks. Currently he has 11 videos there. (see all of his)

I especially liked these two:




This last one is not a great angle, but you can't get this video any more since the Acadian was cancelled.


Thanks for posting those, David!

Saint John model train show photos up

Photos of the Saint John model railroad show are up in my photo gallery. You can read about it on my model train blog.

Finally the 2610

My youngest two kids and I went down to Saint John to see the model train show. On the way to the show, we swung by Island Yard and saw NBSR 3701 and CN 7000 by the shop, and CN 2587, 5515 and 2232 on the shop track at 11:20. 2232 was ready to lead.

CN 7010 and 7079 were idling by Tim Hortons at Thorne Avenue...


After that, we went to the show. It was a great show and I'll blog about that another time.

I received a call that the eastbound NB Southern train left McAdam at 13:35. My source figured it would be 3 hours before they arrived in Saint John as they had a 30 MPH speed restriction due to the recent snow. They would also have to call the track foremen to get clearance through their areas as they were out in force clearing crossings and switches.

I left the show a little after 2 PM and crossed the Courtenay Bay causeway. As I passed over the potash terminal tracks I saw CN 7010 and 7079 running light on their way to get some cars at 14:20. This is unusual - normally CN 305's power does this.

3 minutes later at 14:23 I saw a local crossing Thorne Avenue on its way to the refinery and other industries, with NBSR 3701 and CN 7000 in the middle of the consist. One of those two engines was smoking quite a bit.

I rounded past Island Yard and heard one of CN 305's crew having quite a discussion with the CN diesel doctor. Apparently 2232 was showing a warning about "no air compressor". They did some diagnostic work and the doc eventually told them that 2232 could not lead. I assume 305 went around the wye after that but I didn't stick around - the eastbound was in my sights.

I decided to head to Clarendon and shoot them from up the hill. I could have gone farther up but I didn't want to risk them getting by me when I was out of sight of the tracks. I heard one of the foreman give them permission to pass through at 15:20 and at about 15:35 Tim Dryden showed up. At 15:38 NBSR 9801 East rolled by, with 9801, 2610 and 2317 leading 26 cars. I had the video camera on the tripod and took a number of photos.


We hopped back in our cars and shot them at Welsford Lake next. I just shot video there.

I got to the first Welsford crossing as the lights were flashing, so I shot the train out my side window. The track maintainers gave it an inspection as the train went by at 15:47.


Here's a closeup of 2610 as it went by.


I managed to get to the next Welsford crossing just before they crossed, so I shot this out the side window too at 15:50.


We chose to get them at Lafarge's after that. I love that spot.


One more shot of 2610...


The train had a number of loaded woodchip cars on the head end, including NBSR 874143. Most of the rest were tank cars.

Search terms

Just for fun, here are the search terms people used for the search box on my site since January 1 2007:

• video train
• sleeping & dining car on cnr trains
• terra nova -cn containers sizes
• terra nova sea containers sizes
• video
• google video
• quebec central railway
• john culligan run new brunswick
• halifax railways
• fredericton
• extra gang railway stories
• station de chemin de fer
• canadian pacific railway
• ALLAN LEGERE
• NB southern
• cfmg
• sleeping & dining car on cnr
• vidéo train
• cn containers sizes
• terra nova containers sizes
• metromover
• fire fighting tender picture
• cnrailwayvideos
• quebec railways
• image steam engine #29

Most seem pretty self-explanatory. Someone was definitely doing some research on Terra Transport containers!

NBSR 2610

A good friend nabbed these shots of the new NBSR 2610 in front of the Dever Road shops. I understand this unit was set to go out on the westbound to Maine tonight.

New NBSR units in Saint John

As I said, I tried to see the new NB Southern units in Saint John on Sunday but I was unsuccessful. Bob Boudreau was quicker than I and caught them outside the Island Yard shops:





Thanks for the photos, Bob!

Another shot of new NBSR units in Quebec

Kevin Burkholder got this amazing shot of CN 308 crossing the Riviere Chaudiere in Quebec with the two NBSR units:


Original shot here on Railpictures

Today in Saint John

My boys and I went to Saint John today to see if we could see the new NB Southern units. As it happens, they had already been put inside the shops at Island Yard by the time I got there at 11:50. I even went up Crown Street to get this shot to make sure they weren't hiding somewhere.


CN 5505 and 5617 were at rest by the shop, and old friend GP9 7010 was idling there too. It had probably just shoved the units into the shop.

I headed over to the NBSR Dever Road yard to make sure the new units weren't there. They weren't, but CN GP9 7079 was shunting the east end of the yard while SW1200 units NBSR 3702 and 3703 idled by the shops.

On my way by Island Yard again, I saw CN 7010 was shunting.


We went for lunch, and when we returned we heard CN 305 preparing to go. They got permission from the yardmaster to depart at 14:00, so we went to Rothesay to wait for them. On the way, I saw a few windsurfers out on the ice.


Much to my surprise, I heard the NB Southern switch at Westfield Beach speak up at 14:10 to say the switch was in the normal position. There is normally no eastbound on Sunday so I couldn't figure out what train called the switch. More later.

I wasn't sure where to set up so I wasn't shooting into the sun. I decided to set up to use the station as a backdrop. It worked out OK, I think.


I got a wave from the conductor on the way by. Nice to see you guys back to work.


CN 305 had 56 cars, mostly tanks and some boxcars. They had two gondolas in the middle and six single-stack well cars on the end when they passed at 14:35.

On our way out, we noted two yellow and two green GP38s at the NB Southern shops, proving there had indeed been an eastbound this afternoon. NBSR 3702 and 3703 were shunting happily away.

I missed what I came for, but it was OK nevertheless.

New NBSR units in Quebec

Ron Pelletier got this photo of CN 308 bringing the two "new" NB Southern units through St. Charles, Quebec on February 23. Thanks Ron for the photo!

NBSR new units and other stuff

Train watcher Dwayne Porter spotted CN 308 at Deersdale, NB last night around 11 PM. It had 3 CN engines (5630 leading) with the two "new" NBSR units right behind them, and an export unit on a flatcar a few cars behind that.

I was down in Saint John last night for the Barenaked Ladies concert (awesome) and saw no sign of CN 305 nor 306. That's not unexpected. I did see CN 7000 and NBSR 3701 beside the Island Yard shops.

It was reported that CN 306 arrived in Saint John this morning at 08:20 - no word on whether the CIC units were on it.

New NB Southern units getting closer...

2007/02/22 20:03 Clarke, ON (train unknown, probably 308)
2007/02/23 02:50 Couteau, PQ (train M30831-22)
2007/02/23 07:10 St. Leonard, PQ (train 308)
2007/02/23 09:18 Joffre, PQ (train 308)

It's conceivable if they keep moving like this that they will be in New Brunswick this afternoon and in Moncton this evening/night.

New NB Southern units stalled in Toronto

Friendly railfan Brendan Frisina tells me that the "new" NB Southern units are now being held in Toronto: "Load Hold Toronto Macmil Yard, ON on 21 Feb 23:00 ET". No more ETA to Saint John - wah!

At least NBSR 9802 is back on the road after a head change. 2319 had a similar problem, explaining the smoke I saw in McAdam last Saturday.

New NB Southern units haven't moved

As of 07:08 Eastern time this morning (February 20) they were still in Toronto. They are now showing an ETA of February 23 (Friday). The CN strike is probably the cause of the delay.

NB Southern in McAdam today

I went to McAdam today with my two youngest kids to see the eastbound NB Southern freight. I had heard it would be in around 15:00 so I arranged to be there at 14:30. As I arrived, my cell phone rang and my contact told me that they might be up to two hours late. Great.

We went to the Family Restaurant in McAdam and had some ice cream and shared a coffee with a good friend. After that, I decided to head down to the border to see if I could catch the freight just after it crossed the border.

As I approached the border, I heard someone talking very clearly on the scanner, which told me the freight was close by. I decided to try to get him at the Highway 630 crossing. As I pulled up to the crossing, the lights were already flashing, so it was a quick grab shot into the sun.


The train was NBSR 9801, 2319, 2317, and 2318 with 21 cars.

I beat it back toward McAdam, taping him once from the side of the road, and I still got to the station ahead of him. Another shot into the sun as he arrived at 16:03.


They dropped the first four cars in the yard, then did a little dance with the MM&A boxcars at the pulp transload track. The four units ended up pushing two empty MM&A boxcars up to the transload boxcar before returning to their train. There was no pickup in McAdam, nor in Mattawamkeag for that matter.

My man Gary Lee kept a close eye on the switching.


One of the yellow units was smoking quite a bit.


I grabbed one more shot of them just before I (and they) left McAdam at 16:30.


We then drove to Harvey, easily beating them there while respecting the speed limit. I'm sure I spent 10 minutes there setting up the tripod and waiting for them to show up. They rolled through at 17:07 in the long, long shadows.


Not a bad day... too bad they were so late. The sun was too low to get really good pictures at the angles presented to me.

New NB Southern units in Canada

CIC 110 and 112 are now in Canada!

CIC 110    Load Arrived Toronto Macmil Yard, ON on 16 Feb 04:24 ET    M35061 15
CIC 112    Load Arrived Toronto Macmil Yard, ON on 16 Feb 04:24 ET    M35061 15

They're now showing an ETA of February 20 in Saint John.

Saint John area, 2007/02/16

NB Southern tracks were well plowed Friday morning - the plow or spreader must have been busy yesterday.

NBSR 3703 was on the radio in the morning morning reporting a problem loading up. They were shunting the east end of Dever Road yard.

Over on the CN side, CN 7000 and NBSR 3701 were MU'ed together elephant-style by the Island Yard shop while CN 7010 was shunting the
yard.

Not a great shot, but what can you do?


There was no sign of CN 306's power anywhere. The strike is really throwing the schedule off.

A maintainer asked the yard planner if any trains were going in or out of the city for the next few hours, because he wanted to scrape some crossings. The planner said nothing for at least the next 3-4 hours. That was 9:30 AM. I saw nothing at lunch and even at 15:30, there was no sign of 306.

At NB Southern's Dever Road yard, NBSR 3702 and 3703 were working the east end of the yard while a plow came in for more fuel. At the west end, CN 7079, a definite stranger to these parts, was shunting boxcars.


On my way back, I stopped in Welsford for a few minutes in the vain hope the eastbound train would come through. I noticed that the plow had only done part of the siding, up to the derail. I guess that's to provide a spot for the train to set off a bad order car if necessary.


It turns out that the eastbound didn't leave McAdam until 17:30 anyway.

Today (Saturday) I'm going to McAdam to see the eastbound. More photos later!

New NB Southern units moving right along!

Last reported position: Battle Creek, Michigan on train 438 on Valentine's Day at 02:11 AM. They were still reported there at noon.

Here's a map showing their progress to date (courtesy of Google Maps). The yellow pushpins show reported sightings.


They should cross the border at Sarnia, Ontario then proceed to Toronto. From there they will possibly go on CN 308 to Moncton, and then CN 306 to Saint John.

New NB Southern units in Illinois

CIC #110, arrived in Hawthorn, Illinois on CN, February 12th at 8:28PM local time. No ETA or ETI.
CIC #112, Departed Hawthorn, Illinois on CN, February 13th at 1:55PM local time. No ETA or ETI.

New NB Southern units on the move

Iowa railfan Kurt Michelson reported that the two "new" NB Southern units were ready to go on CN on February 10.

"Two ex-Cedar Rapids & Iowa City GP35-sumthings are in the CN Cedar Rapids yard this morning 02/10. Likely to head north to Manchester for destinations currently unknown at some point today"

Fellow Iowa railfan Bruce Tiemann deduced they should have been in Chicago by Sunday night.

Hopefully some CN watchers can trace those units from there. They may be traceable under CIC 110 and 112, or NBSR 110/112, or NBSR 2710 and 2712.

Diversification In Action

Heritage Elevator is located at IRSI in Moncton. The company was mentioned in a recent CBC-NB report called "Small elevators could revive heritage buildings"

Heritage Elevator's contact page has the same address as IRSI, 299 Hump
Yard Road, and their home page lists them as a subsidiary of IRSI.

That's diversification!

CN number boards

I picked up my locomotive number boards from Ron Leblanc yesterday. Here they are:



1763 - RSC-14 rebuilt from CN 3861
3665 - RS-18
6765 - FPA-4, preserved at the Canadian Railway Museum

I plan on mounting at least 3665's number board in some kind of light box so I can backlight it, like a real locomotive.

Here's how to get your own locomotive number boards.

A late CN 120

Due to the conductor's strike on CN, things seem to be running a bit late. My family and I were in Moncton yesterday (Sunday), and I was hoping to catch VIA 14 before it got to the station. Alas, it was on time and I only saw the tail end of the Ocean as it passed Moncton's West End. I heard that CN 120 would be following it out of the station, so I got a few shots of it waiting at the West End signals at 11:50. Normally CN 120 would be in Halifax before sunrise so things were definitely running late.



120 had SD75 5630 on the head and Dash-8 2451 running elephant-style behind it. They had 56 or 65 cars, all loads.

Guest photos

Paul Campbell from the UK was kind enough to send along a trip report from 2006 as well as some photos. Much appreciated!

"On the morning of 12th August 2006 having travelled over night from Montréal “The Chaleur/Ocean” arrived at Matapédia. Here the train was separated in to its component parts, “The Ocean” staying at the station while “The Chaleur” ran a short distance up the line, before reversing back in on the other track. Once the locomotives were re-connecting “The Ocean” hauled by #6410 and #6420 pulled out of Matapédia leaving “The Chaleur” headed by #6424 standing in the station.


Viewed from the bullet lounge of “Assiniboine Park” #6424 leaves Matapédia to continue its journey to Gaspé. Looking across the valley as we continued on towards Halifax “The Chaleur” could be seen between the trees drifting off in to the distance.

While “The Ocean” stopped at Campbellton station a freight train consisting of box cars passed by hauled by NBEC #6901, CFMG #6909, SFEX #4202, SFEX #4203 and NBEC #1851."


Thank you, Paul!

If anyone else would like to "guest blog" please let me know via a comment, or an email to blog@theboykos.com.

Missed by that much

Did you ever have a day or a train chase where you felt like you were just a few seconds behind everyone else? That was yesterday for me. I guess that makes up for my lucky catch of a CN local yesterday.

January 30 started with a quick visit to the NBEC yard in Bathurst. NBEC 1818 was the yard power, and the crew was walking to their unit at about 07:50 in the bitter cold.


I wasn't really trying to catch VIA 14 but I hoped I would get them at Belledune when they stopped to reline the Irvco switch. I heard them on the scanner but I only saw the tail end of the train in the distance. Miss #1.

Ore train 587 was in Belledune but I didn't see it. I assume NBEC 1813 and SFEX 3000 were still the power for that train.

On my way back south, I heard someone calling the RTC as I drove over the tracks on highway 11 but I didn't hear who it was.

As I approached Miramichi I heard train 403 getting its TOP from the RTC at 14:54. Given that I was just by Wal-Mart at that point, I didn't think I would be able to get trackside before they left. I was right. (the TOP was for 6905 West with 8 loads (didn't hear the # of empties), 2693 tons and 2584 feet).

Just as I saw the tracks by the Northumberland Dairy facility, 403 was blowing for the crossings. I saw two SD40 and two C424 units in the distance as they headed north. I estimate they had about 30 cars, 17 of those being the empty Ultramar tank cars on the tail end. Miss #2.

CFMG 6910 was at rest in the yard, waiting to become train 402 later in the day. NBEC 1866 and NBEC 1856 were the power on local 578, which was idling in front of the crew shack. I contented myself with some roster shots in the bright sunlight before heading south.

I like the moon over the unit.

As I approached McGivney I saw the east-facing signals were green over red, but I didn't have time to sit and wait for a train to show. Experience has told me it could be half an hour at least before something shows. Miss #3.

On the way south I stopped and took a few photos of the old railway bridge at Renous. I've been meaning to do this for some time.


Not a great day for watching trains, but what can you do?

Northern New Brunswick Railfanning

First... being in the right place at the right time.

I was heading north from Fredericton to Bathurst this afternoon. As I approached McGivney I heard a chirp on the scanner - someone calling the RTC. I didn't hear anything else but I decided to take five minutes and go to the depot to see what the signals said. As I approached the crossing, I looked right, then left.. TRAIN! I had just enough time to put the car in park, turn the video camera on and get out before the eastbound freight passed the depot.

14:00 CN ??? - CN 4730/6025 with empty centerbeam flats and loaded log cars - about 15 cars in total.

Good timing!

It was the usual crowd in Miramichi later that afternoon, with NBEC 402 (CFMG 6910) and NBEC 403 (6903/6902/6900) both milling about. 403's power was wyed to have 6903 lead on the way back to Campbellton.

Here are trains 402 and 403, both by the crew shack in Miramichi.


Train 402 got its TOP at 16:03 and left at 16:13 with 10 cars.

NBEC train 403 got its TOP right after 403, and left Miramichi at 16:24. I held the video camera in my right hand and shot blind with the digital camera in my left hand. I'm quite pleased with my aim!

Notice the sundog above the train.

I left Miramichi and headed to Bathurst. I heard train 597 shunting in Bathurst. Train 403 called ahead and asked when it could enter the yard. They were told to hold at mile 88 (yard limit) for a few minutes. Here they are approaching highway 11 at 17:31.

This was another left-hand shot as I taped the train. I had to level the horizon on this one.

They rolled right past train 597 and stopped by the station for a few minutes.

Train 403 rolled out at 18:04.

I went to check into my hotel, and came back at 19:30ish to wait for VIA 15. I checked with the station staff and they told me it wouldn't be in until 21:00-21:15 (1 hour late). When I returned at 20:45 the story was the same. I heard them get a TOP for the Bathurst-Campellton stretch at about 20:05. Shortly thereafter NBEC 403 reported it lined the Irvco switch for the main line. VIA 15 arrived at about 21:20 with 6414 (Loto Quebec) and 6453 leading a Renaissance train. I shot them arriving and leaving, then called it a night.

Grumpy's World

I stumbled across a very entertaining railway blog, Grumpy's World. The author, a curmudgeon who lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, has some very acerbic comments on motive power, railfans, and pretty much everything else. It's entertaining to read and his photos are excellent.

In that vein, he has a railroad photography guide online that is a must-read. Although the articles are a bit dated, the tips and techniques are relevant even in today's digital world.

Photo of new NB Southern units

Bruce Tiemann got this shot of de-lettered CIC 110 and 112 at the Rockford Road shops in Cedar Rapids yesterday. These are the two "new" NB Southern units coming soon.



Thanks for the photo, Bruce!

NB Southern new units

Bruce Tiemann reports that "As of today, Ex-CIC GP35M #110 & GP35M #112 are now tied down on the same track as CIC display GP9 #100 on the Southeast side of the
Rockford Road shop complex, clearly visible from the street overpass. Both were dusted with snow and have had their stacks capped."

CN number boards update

I've updated the list of CN number boards for sale by Ron Leblanc. He has had a lot of interest so far.

FRN

A quick shout out to the FRN blog for listing me in 12 Railroad Blogs. Good to be noticed!

NB Southern new units

I'm back from Mexico. No trains sighted (except the Pearson shuttle) but a great time was had by all. Back to rail news..

Crandic units GP35M 110 and 112 were spotted outside the Rockford Road shops January 3 with their heralds removed and road numbers painted out. They are waiting for the money transfer to be completed, then they will be on their way to New Brunswick. They should arrive in Saint John on CN 306 and will go straight into the shop at Island Yard for repainting before they are put into service. No word yet on what NBSR numbers they will receive. I vote for 9804 and 9805, not that my opinion matters!